Wednesday, 27 April 2016

Review: Aromamizer Supreme RDTA by Steamcrave

The Aromamizer from Steamcrave has been one of my favourite atomizers of 2015. I was, and I still am of course, mighty impressed by the RDTA, that in my opinion outperforms a lot of substantially more expensive tanks. When the V2 came out not long ago I was even more impressed. But when Steamcrave release their V2 of the Aromamizer, they also released another atomizer: the Aromamizer Supreme RDTA.

One of the key concepts that makes the Aromamizer so good is, in my opinion, their liquid feeding system and the airflow design that takes the air in from the sides and leads it directly to the coils. With the Supreme, Steamcrave has tried to fine tune these concepts, they've made it bigger and they have added a couple of new features that you won't find on the standard Aromamizer: Top-filling and a juice control system making you able to limit or completely stop the juice from flowing to the chamber. The Supreme is indeed quite a big atomizer, having a diameter of 25 mm and a juice capacity of 7 ml. Shortly after the initial release they also released a 4 ml version of it, and of course... there is a conversion kit so you can just buy a new top and glass tube and you can rebuild your 7 ml Supreme to a 4 ml Supreme, in the same way you can easily swap between 3 and 6 ml for the standard version. I just love that Steamcrave did that ... again ... and I have already ordered the conversion kit for only $9.90.

In the box
The Aromamizer Supreme comes in the same kind of gift-box as the rest of the Steamcrave Aromamizer family.

The Aromamizer Supreme RDTA

Spare glass tank

Spare O-rings

Spare screws and a hex key

Specifications and features

Top filling

Airflow control

Juice flow control

Big Velocity style 2-post build-deck (16.3 mm diameter)

Juice Capacity: 7ml/4ml

Diameter: 25 mm

Height:: 67,5 mm

Look and feel
The Aromamizer Supreme is quite a big atomizer... and quite heavy. It feels very solidly built, and the threads are smooth as hell all over the place. Great build quality. When reviewing the the Aromamizer in November I said it wasn't the best looking tank out there. With the V2 this changed quite a bit and now I think it looks quite sexy with the new metal AFC ring. I think the Supreme looks pretty good, especially the black one that I've got. It's also available in the standard Stainless Steal color, and you can even buy replacement glass tubes in red, blue or black glass if you think that will make it look better. I don't ... I think the standard clear glass looks the best.

In use
As I said above... all threading on this atomizer is supersmooth, making it a dream to take apart, clean and work with in general. The AFC (Air Flow Control) ring and the JFC
(Juice Flow Control) ring is also quite well adjusted when it comes to tightness, although I do think the Aromamizer V2 AFC ring still wins the smoothness contest. The JFC is a bit tighter than the AFC, but I guess this
is done on purpose since as you don't want to accidentally adjust or
even close off your juice flow as you twist the AFC ring.

Building on the velocity deck of this atomizer is also quite a dream. There is a reason we're seeing this design implemented in A LOT of atomizers lately. The one in the Supreme is almost identical to the one in the standard Aromamizer (the Supreme comes with only the velocity deck, not the 3-post they had in the standard), with the same spacing between the posts. The difference however is that they've made the juice holes quite a lot bigger, 2.5 mm, and the deck itself is a bit wider, having a 16.3 mm diameter vs. the 14.3 of the standard Aromamizer RDTA. The chamber of course matches this, giving you some more room to build bigger coils, and with the bigger juice holes it should be able to wick faster and handle more power than the standard. The whole build deck can be removed from the device for inspection, re-wicking or rebuilding without having to empty the tank first, which is also a good thing.

The liquid and air flow paths are the same as they were on the standard Aromamizer. As I said in the review in November, this is best explained with an illustration. The Supreme however, has only two air holes that are a bit bigger than the ones on the standard, and they can be covered up partly (or completely) by twisting the AFC ring. Another difference is that the build deck is no longer screwed into the bottom piece but is rather pushed into the chamber first and you then screw your bottom ring onto the chamber section to lock it in place. The point of this is that the build deck has some tabs that will make the coils align perfectly with the air holes, kind of the same concept used by the UD Bellus. Works very well and the only thing you need to worry about is to make sure your coils are at the right height, which again is pretty easy to see if you just look into the holes.

The Juice Flow Control system also works very well. Just twist the ring to control how size of the openings from the tank down to the bottom. I've mainly used this to shut the juice completely off to avoid leakage when I'm out and about. What I've done is shut off the flow completely, then I've vaped it for a few draws to empty the bottom section, and I've had no leakage problems at all. When vaping it normally I've kept the juice flow fully open, which has worked fine with the juice I have been using, which has been at least 50% VG. I guess for thinner juices it might make sense to limit the juice flow to avoid flooding as you now have 2.5 mm juice holes in the bottom of the deck, but I haven't really tried this. Anyway... I like that you have the ability to completely shut off the juice flow, eliminating leakage problems when you're out and about completely. I doubt it will help you on a plane though... but I haven't tried that either. I've tried running the Supreme up to like 70-75W with no wicking issues on 50/50 PG/VG juice. I guess you can run it a lot higher if you do some trial and error with the amount of cotton you put in there.

The top filling is also just excellent. Very large fill holes which means you can basically pour juice in there from a coke bottle if you wanted. The threading on the top cap is super smooth, and of course they've put knurling on it as well so it's really easy to unscrew. The only negative thing about the top filling is that I no longer inspect my build every time I refill, which means I probably don't re-wick as often as I should.

All in all, the Aromamizer Supreme, as it's little brother/sister, is indeed a dream to use. Steamcrave makes sure of this as they do pay attention to the small details that makes everyday use of the device easy. Knurling in the right places, big fill holes, some grip on the JFC ring etc.

Performance
The velocity style deck is a design that does give you a lot of building options. You can do single or dual coils (probably more as well if you really want to), horisontal, vertical or maybe diagonal builds and the deck is big enough for some pretty big coils. So again... performance is of course dependent on how you build it. Then again... you don't need to go super-advanced on this one to get fantastic performance. I've been running it with dual-coil claptons (I'm even lazy enough to buy pre-wrapped coils) and it performs on par with the standard RDTA (and the V2), which I started out saying was one of my favourite atomizers. Hopefully you have read my review of that one so you know that I think it's just fantastic. Great vapor production, great flavour... simple as that.

Pros and cons
++ Great flavour
++ Great vapour production
+ Juice flow control that makes it leak proof as well
+ Great air flow control
+ All tools and spares included
+ Easy to use
+ Great fan-club on facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/steamcrave/) and they get a lot of kudos for listening to their customers.
- The Allen key was kind of soft so you can't really use much force or it will become unusable pretty quickly.

Conclusion
The Supreme is supposed to cost about $10 ($54.99 at steamcrave.com) more than the standard Aromamizer RDTA for the 7 ml version and $5 more for the 4 ml version. However, as I'm writing this you get the 4 ml for $39.99 and the 7 ml for 44.99... the same as the V2. So in other words... price shouldn't really matter if you have to choose between them, they're both reasonably priced so I'd say try them both and decide which one you like best. The Supreme is bigger and can probably handle more heat and bigger builds, it has top filling and it has the juice flow control. Then again, the standard is smaller, pretty easy to fill even if it doesn't have top filling and to be honest ... I haven't had much leaking with that either, especially with the new V2 AFC ring that you can just shut and it won't leak. What I'm trying to say is that, in my opinion, both of these are extremely good atomizers, with fantastic flavour and vapor-production, and they're both worth every penny and then some. Which one you should choose depends on your needs and personal preference, and I suspect you'll end up with both once you tried one of them.

Thanks to Maggie at Steamcrave for offering a decent discount, making this review possible.

Disclosure:

All my reviews are my honest opinion even if I am affiliated with the company manufacturing or selling the product.

This review does not contain affiliate links.

The Aromamizer from Steamcrave has been one of my favourite atomizers of 2015. I was, and I still am of course, mighty impressed by the RDTA, that in my opinion outperforms a lot of substantially more expensive tanks. When the V2 came out not long ago I was even more impressed. But when Steamcrave release their V2 of the Aromamizer, they also released another atomizer: the Aromamizer Supreme RDTA.

One of the key concepts that makes the Aromamizer so good is, in my opinion, their liquid feeding system and the airflow design that takes the air in from the sides and leads it directly to the coils. With the Supreme, Steamcrave has tried to fine tune these concepts, they've made it bigger and they have added a couple of new features that you won't find on the standard Aromamizer: Top-filling and a juice control system making you able to limit or completely stop the juice from flowing to the chamber. The Supreme is indeed quite a big atomizer, having a diameter of 25 mm and a juice capacity of 7 ml. Shortly after the initial release they also released a 4 ml version of it, and of course... there is a conversion kit so you can just buy a new top and glass tube and you can rebuild your 7 ml Supreme to a 4 ml Supreme, in the same way you can easily swap between 3 and 6 ml for the standard version. I just love that Steamcrave did that ... again ... and I have already ordered the conversion kit for only $9.90.

In the box
The Aromamizer Supreme comes in the same kind of gift-box as the rest of the Steamcrave Aromamizer family.

The Aromamizer Supreme RDTA

Spare glass tank

Spare O-rings

Spare screws and a hex key

Specifications and features

Top filling

Airflow control

Juice flow control

Big Velocity style 2-post build-deck (16.3 mm diameter)

Juice Capacity: 7ml/4ml

Diameter: 25 mm

Height:: 67,5 mm

Look and feel
The Aromamizer Supreme is quite a big atomizer... and quite heavy. It feels very solidly built, and the threads are smooth as hell all over the place. Great build quality. When reviewing the the Aromamizer in November I said it wasn't the best looking tank out there. With the V2 this changed quite a bit and now I think it looks quite sexy with the new metal AFC ring. I think the Supreme looks pretty good, especially the black one that I've got. It's also available in the standard Stainless Steal color, and you can even buy replacement glass tubes in red, blue or black glass if you think that will make it look better. I don't ... I think the standard clear glass looks the best.

In use
As I said above... all threading on this atomizer is supersmooth, making it a dream to take apart, clean and work with in general. The AFC (Air Flow Control) ring and the JFC
(Juice Flow Control) ring is also quite well adjusted when it comes to tightness, although I do think the Aromamizer V2 AFC ring still wins the smoothness contest. The JFC is a bit tighter than the AFC, but I guess this
is done on purpose since as you don't want to accidentally adjust or
even close off your juice flow as you twist the AFC ring.

Building on the velocity deck of this atomizer is also quite a dream. There is a reason we're seeing this design implemented in A LOT of atomizers lately. The one in the Supreme is almost identical to the one in the standard Aromamizer (the Supreme comes with only the velocity deck, not the 3-post they had in the standard), with the same spacing between the posts. The difference however is that they've made the juice holes quite a lot bigger, 2.5 mm, and the deck itself is a bit wider, having a 16.3 mm diameter vs. the 14.3 of the standard Aromamizer RDTA. The chamber of course matches this, giving you some more room to build bigger coils, and with the bigger juice holes it should be able to wick faster and handle more power than the standard. The whole build deck can be removed from the device for inspection, re-wicking or rebuilding without having to empty the tank first, which is also a good thing.

The liquid and air flow paths are the same as they were on the standard Aromamizer. As I said in the review in November, this is best explained with an illustration. The Supreme however, has only two air holes that are a bit bigger than the ones on the standard, and they can be covered up partly (or completely) by twisting the AFC ring. Another difference is that the build deck is no longer screwed into the bottom piece but is rather pushed into the chamber first and you then screw your bottom ring onto the chamber section to lock it in place. The point of this is that the build deck has some tabs that will make the coils align perfectly with the air holes, kind of the same concept used by the UD Bellus. Works very well and the only thing you need to worry about is to make sure your coils are at the right height, which again is pretty easy to see if you just look into the holes.

The Juice Flow Control system also works very well. Just twist the ring to control how size of the openings from the tank down to the bottom. I've mainly used this to shut the juice completely off to avoid leakage when I'm out and about. What I've done is shut off the flow completely, then I've vaped it for a few draws to empty the bottom section, and I've had no leakage problems at all. When vaping it normally I've kept the juice flow fully open, which has worked fine with the juice I have been using, which has been at least 50% VG. I guess for thinner juices it might make sense to limit the juice flow to avoid flooding as you now have 2.5 mm juice holes in the bottom of the deck, but I haven't really tried this. Anyway... I like that you have the ability to completely shut off the juice flow, eliminating leakage problems when you're out and about completely. I doubt it will help you on a plane though... but I haven't tried that either. I've tried running the Supreme up to like 70-75W with no wicking issues on 50/50 PG/VG juice. I guess you can run it a lot higher if you do some trial and error with the amount of cotton you put in there.

The top filling is also just excellent. Very large fill holes which means you can basically pour juice in there from a coke bottle if you wanted. The threading on the top cap is super smooth, and of course they've put knurling on it as well so it's really easy to unscrew. The only negative thing about the top filling is that I no longer inspect my build every time I refill, which means I probably don't re-wick as often as I should.

All in all, the Aromamizer Supreme, as it's little brother/sister, is indeed a dream to use. Steamcrave makes sure of this as they do pay attention to the small details that makes everyday use of the device easy. Knurling in the right places, big fill holes, some grip on the JFC ring etc.

Performance
The velocity style deck is a design that does give you a lot of building options. You can do single or dual coils (probably more as well if you really want to), horisontal, vertical or maybe diagonal builds and the deck is big enough for some pretty big coils. So again... performance is of course dependent on how you build it. Then again... you don't need to go super-advanced on this one to get fantastic performance. I've been running it with dual-coil claptons (I'm even lazy enough to buy pre-wrapped coils) and it performs on par with the standard RDTA (and the V2), which I started out saying was one of my favourite atomizers. Hopefully you have read my review of that one so you know that I think it's just fantastic. Great vapor production, great flavour... simple as that.

Pros and cons
++ Great flavour
++ Great vapour production
+ Juice flow control that makes it leak proof as well
+ Great air flow control
+ All tools and spares included
+ Easy to use
+ Great fan-club on facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/steamcrave/) and they get a lot of kudos for listening to their customers.
- The Allen key was kind of soft so you can't really use much force or it will become unusable pretty quickly.

Conclusion
The Supreme is supposed to cost about $10 ($54.99 at steamcrave.com) more than the standard Aromamizer RDTA for the 7 ml version and $5 more for the 4 ml version. However, as I'm writing this you get the 4 ml for $39.99 and the 7 ml for 44.99... the same as the V2. So in other words... price shouldn't really matter if you have to choose between them, they're both reasonably priced so I'd say try them both and decide which one you like best. The Supreme is bigger and can probably handle more heat and bigger builds, it has top filling and it has the juice flow control. Then again, the standard is smaller, pretty easy to fill even if it doesn't have top filling and to be honest ... I haven't had much leaking with that either, especially with the new V2 AFC ring that you can just shut and it won't leak. What I'm trying to say is that, in my opinion, both of these are extremely good atomizers, with fantastic flavour and vapor-production, and they're both worth every penny and then some. Which one you should choose depends on your needs and personal preference, and I suspect you'll end up with both once you tried one of them.

Thanks to Maggie at Steamcrave for offering a decent discount, making this review possible.

Disclosure:

All my reviews are my honest opinion even if I am affiliated with the company manufacturing or selling the product.